"Then one day I got a postal card from the Cleveland Ball Club, asking
me to come in and talk to them. Mr. Kilfoyl and Mr. Somers, the owners
of the club, wanted to see me."
"Hurray!" said Hootsey. "So then, your father must have come around by
then?"
"Hardly!" said the shadow. "My Dad saw the postal card and became very
upset. 'So,' he said to me. 'I see that you still want to be a
ballplayer.'
"'Yes,' I admitted. 'I do. And I'm going to be a great one, too! Just
you wait and see! Some day you're going to be proud of me!'
"'Yeah,' he shrugged. 'Proud of nothing.'
"But I went to the Cleveland club's office all the same, and Mr. Kilfoyl
and Mr. Somers were both there. I told them that I had received their
card. 'You know,' I added, 'You got me into a little jam. My dad doesn't
want me to be a ballplayer.'
"'Don't you worry,' said Mr. Kilfoyl 'After you sign with us and get
into the Big Leagues, he'll think differently about it.'
"'Well,' I said, 'I'm not signing with you or anybody else until I hear
what you're offering. I've been taken advantage of before, and it's not
going to happen again. I know a lot of ballplayers and they always tell
me not to sign with anybody unless I get a good salary.
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